Stocks Avert Bear Market, Slide for Seventh Week: Markets Wrap
- S&P 500 notches up longest run of weekly losses since 2001
- Options-expiry tied to stocks, ETFs adds to volatility
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A dramatic late-session rally brought the S&P 500 back from the brink of a bear market, but the index still sank for a seventh straight week in a stretch of weakness not seen since 2001.
The benchmark closed the day little changed in the green, after a selloff earlier sent it down more than 2% from a January closing high, meeting the common definition of a bear market. At the end of another volatile week, the monthly expiration of options tied to equities and exchange-traded funds exacerbated price swings. Treasuries gained with the dollar as havens caught bids.